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Is a 16 inch tool rest too long?

Grey Darrah

Grey Darrah

Joined
May 6, 2018
Messages
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Location
Cartersville, GA
I'm working on a bowl that's about 17 inches deep and my Robust 14 in J rest is forcing me to get too extended with my bowl gouge (I only have about 10 or 11 inches length from the center post). I've got a nice welding shop nearby and was thinking of having a rest made that extends about 16 inches from the center post.

3 questions:

1 - Is 16 in too far from the center post to give me a stable platform for my gouge? I've got a Laguna 18/36 lathe that takes a 1 in post if that matters.

2 - If this idea doesn't seem too crazy, is there a certain type of steel should I have the rest made from?

3 - Would it be best (more steady) to have 1 in round stock used for the 16 in rest? I was thinking that would be more stable than something like 5/8's or 3/4 stock, but I don't know if I need to go that heavy.

Thanks,
Grey
 
Hi Grey, I'm not sure about a 16" tool rest but if you think that you will be doing vessels that deep I would think of investing in a good hollowing tool ?
 
Lamar Wright said:
Hi Grey, I'm not sure about a 16" tool rest but if you think that you will be doing vessels that deep I would think of investing in a good hollowing tool ?
Click to expand...

I do have a good hollowing tool, but for a bowl, with all that room to maneuver, a gouge sure is a much quicker way to remove material (in my humble and relatively new opinion).

Grey
 
Bill Boehme said:
It's going to be difficult to have a rest that is stiff enough with the end hanging out that far from the center post. Take light cuts. :D

Just curious about the diameter of the bowl.
Click to expand...

It's about 9 in at the base and 14.5 at the top.

Grey
 

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Put as large a gusset plate as will fit between the post and top of the rest. Also, use a post that has a close fit to the banjo. Not so tight that it gets stuck, but just a hair less than that if possible.

This is where a ¾" bowl gouge would be nice.
 
Bill Boehme said:
Put as large a gusset plate as will fit between the post and top of the rest. Also, use a post that has a close fit to the banjo. Not so tight that it gets stuck, but just a hair less than that if possible.

This is where a ¾" bowl gouge would be nice.
Click to expand...
That's what I do, I have a U and a V 3/4 bowl gouges, you can extend a lot over the tool rest, definetly not recommended for beginners or turners that get the occasional catch. A 16 inch tool rest is in my opinion a little too long, you will get some vibration not from the 3/4 but from the tool rest...
 
Grey, I have a rest that I made that is about 20" lg. and 1" in dia. for spindles and stool legs and it works pretty good but lighter cuts are needed. As Bill has advised gussets help with supporting the rest. For me I think I would find the size getting in the way for bowls but we all have our own style of turning.:D
 

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Long spindle rests come with two post requiring two banjos.
I once had a job doing a small run of table legs and no long rest.

Using some guidance from an old book.
I made a wooden rest with one post and fixed the other end to the tailstock with some clamps

This rest got me through the the project just fine.
No moving the tool rest up and down the leg.
 
Trying to reach that deep with an inside bowl rest, and be safe, would probably require a post with considerably more diameter than 1 inch. Up to 10 or so inches, it can work, but beyond that it gets 'iffy'...

robo hippy
 
Just left a local welding shop. They're going to make me a 14 in j hook rest out of 1 in stock. It's going to be 3 to 5 days before they have it ready. I'll update this post with the results.

Thanks for all the input,
Grey
 
I agree about the gussets. I think a tapered that travels about half way down the rest would add tremendous support. At one point in time I think someone made an adjustable rest that would let you reach into things further.
 
While I'm not a bowl turner the following might be something to think about:
The below pic is the internal tool rest I use with all hollow-forms. The construction is 3/4" solid bar and 5/16 plate on top - there is a 1/16" spacer every inch to add stiffness and to allow tie-wraps for dressing the cables for LEDs.
Critical to the design is a 1/4-20 tooling pin that can be positioned at any point on the rest.
I do NOT think you would want to use a gouge with this design - a shielded cutter like the Rolle Munro works great.

Tool Rest - Top View.jpg
 
I shared a few PM's with Grey, but appropriate here.... Anything over about 10 inches will be difficult. Round bar stock, even over 1 inch diameter, will start to bounce that far off the tool rest. The Oneway inside rest is 1/2 inch thick by 1 1/8 high, and it starts to bounce at about 8 inches. The max reach on it is about 10 inch straight line measure from the tool post, but if you follow the arc of the curve, it is longer than that. I did have a custom one made once years ago for my 3520A. The post into the lathe may have been turned down from solid stock, but a 1 inch post, with the top part maybe 2 inch diameter and it sat on top of the banjo, so no adjusting for down, and it did have to sit flush. The arm was at least 3 inches high at the post, and tapered to about 1 inch at the end, and was 1/2 inch thick. It was heated and bent to a J shape. It was pretty solid all the way out to the tip, but I don't remember how long it was. You could get some A2 drill rod and bend it to shape then use JB weld or Locktite, and stick it to the top of the plate stock arm. Better if you can harden it and then weld it on, but the JB weld is easier to do. The unhardened drill rod is not as sweet sliding as the hardened stuff, but still far better than cast iron or plate steel.

robo hippy
 
Stan Semeniuk said:
Grey, I have a rest that I made that is about 20" lg. and 1" in dia. for spindles and stool legs and it works pretty good but lighter cuts are needed. As Bill has advised gussets help with supporting the rest. For me I think I would find the size getting in the way for bowls but we all have our own style of turning.:D
Click to expand...
Well, yes, it's 20 overall. But you can't get it all inside the bowl. You are about the limit for a tool rest that goes on the inside... I still think you cant have 16 inches of hang and get a decent cut...
 
I think it depends on what or how you make it, in my case my tools rests for hollowing are made from either 1" sq bar straight and bent. Then for the really long or deep vessels, I use 25mm hardened old linear bearing shafts. I also use for Hollowing tools either a Rolly Munro or a Woodcut Pro Forme as opposed to gouges etc.
 
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